I can tell you guys for a fact that this Brown Butter Banana Bread is absolutely fantastic. How do I know? Because I don't even like bananas, and I LOVE to eat this banana bread for breakfast or a snack. It's got a beautiful crumb, stays moist for days, and is perfectly sweetened!
There's something about a quality banana bread recipe that really just elevates your day. This one, made with browned butter for a deep, almost toffee-like flavor, is truly so addictive. It's a great way to use up bananas that are too browned to want eat to plain.
The Coined Breakdown
- Total Cost per serving: $0.40
- Total Cost (about 10 slices): $3.95
- Those Other Guys: $4.99 per slice
Ingredients
- Overripe Bananas - The riper the banana, the more sweetness we get from them. This is a great recipe to use up those spotty, browned bananas on your counter that are about to be thrown out.
- Brown Butter - Brown butter gives sweets a much deeper flavor with an almost nutty taste. It's super easy to make too! Essentially, you just cook the butter until it browns (but not burns) and let cool. I give more detailed instructions below!
- Greek Yogurt - We lose some moisture from the butter during the browning process. Greek yogurt gives a boost of moisture back to our banana bread. You can also use sour cream.
- Granulated Sugar and Molasses - We *technically* make our own brown sugar in the recipe; it calls for white sugar + molasses. If you only have brown sugar, feel free to substitute.
Variations and Substitutions
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread: Stir in mini chocolate chips for a sweet addition to your banana bread!
Espresso Banana Bread: A little hint of espresso powder works overtime for a great flavor.
Browned Butter Banana Nut Muffins: This recipe works well as muffins too! Add the batter to a muffin tin and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
Blueberry Banana Bread: Such a fun and tasty combination. I like adding wild blueberries to the batter for extra antioxidants!
How to Make Super Moist Banana Bread with Browned Butter
Step 1: First, making the browned butter.
Heat up cubes of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. It'll begin foaming like this; keep cooking.
Step 2: Once the butter turns golden brown and gets fragrant, remove from heat.
Let it cool before continuing with the recipe instructions.
Step 3: While your butter is cooling, mash your bananas into a paste using a fork or potato masher. Set aside.
Step 4: Add the cooled brown butter to a mixing bowl with sugar, vanilla, and molasses. Mix well.
Step 5: Add in the mashed bananas, eggs, and plain Greek yogurt.
Stir well until fully combined.
Step 6: Pour in your dry ingredients.
Gently fold the dry items into the batter, being sure not to overmix.
Add to a greased loaf pan and bake on the lower rack for 50 minutes (using an aluminum foil tent if needed to prevent the top from burning.) Let cool before slicing.
Recipe Pro Tips
- Slightly cool the browned butter. You don't have to solidify the butter, but cool it down a bit before mixing with your sugars.
- Mash your banana first - and thoroughly. Getting a really even mash is great for texture. I'm one of those people who don't like the strings in bananas - by mashing well before adding to the batter, you can have a nice consistent mash. It also helps brings out more of the fruit's natural sugars!
- Don't skip the yogurt (or sour cream). This helps keep our banana bread moist since browning butter evaporates a lot of moisture.
- Tent the pan. Adding an aluminum foil tent to the pan towards the end of baking helps the bread fully cook in the middle without burning the outsides.
Recipe FAQs
It goes well in tons of sweet recipes like my browned butter chocolate chip cookies, brown butter Rice Krispie treats, or browned butter pecan blondies!
You can also use it in savory dishes like a browned butter risotto, brown butter cornbread, or rosemary brown butter ravioli.
Banana bread has a thick batter so it can sometimes take longer to bake in comparison to other breads!
To cook it evenly and completely - bake for about 30 minutes until the bread fully rises. Then, tent the pan with aluminum foil while you bake it the rest of the way. This will keep the top from burning before the center can finish cooking.
You can stick a toothpick or knife in the center; if it comes out clean or has a couple moist crumbs on it, your bread is done!
Yes of course! Simply slice the bread, wrap in plastic wrap, and store in a freezer-safe container.
When you're ready to eat, let the bread slices come to room temperature on the counter.
Store in an airtight container on the counter for 4-5 days. This helps avoid the bread from drying out in the fridge.
Other Tasty Bread and Biscuit Recipes!
If you tried this Brown Butter Banana Bread Recipe, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Thanks for visiting!
Brown Butter Banana Bread
Equipment
- Saucepot
- Knife
- Small Bowl
- Fork or potato masher
- Mixing Bowl
- Wooden Spoon
- Loaf Pan
- Aluminum Foil
- Wire Rack for cooling
Ingredients
Browned Butter (makes ½ cup)
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons salted butter cut into 1-inch cubes
Banana Bread
- 1.25 pounds overripe bananas 565 grams mashed
- ½ cup browned butter (from above)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon molasses
- 2 count eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup plain greek yogurt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chopped pecans optional
Instructions
Browned Butter
- Start by slicing the butter into even pats, about 1 tablespoon cubes.
- Add to a saucepan with a light colored bottom and cook over medium heat, consistently stirring, for about 10-15 minutes.
- The butter will bubble and foam at the top, and will turn a golden brown color with a nutty aroma. Small brown specks of milk solids will form at the bottom; continue to stir so they don't stick to the pan.
- Once that's done, immediately transfer the browned butter (including the brown bits) to a heat-safe bowl, and let cool.
Banana Bread
- While your butter is cooling, peel the overripe bananas and mash them in a small bowl with a fork or potato masher. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cooled browned butter, sugar, and molasses until well combined.
- Add in the eggs, vanilla extract, greek yogurt, and mashed bananas. Stir until thoroughly mixed.
- Pour in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nuts (if using those). Gently fold in the dry ingredients, being sure not to overmix.
- Prepare a loaf pan with non-stick spray and pour in the banana bread batter.
- On the lower oven rack, bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove the pan and carefully tent the loaf pan with aluminum foil; this helps prevent the top from getting too brown.
- Cook for another 15-20 minutes, until a knife in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the pan from the oven.Let the bread cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then set on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
- Serve with extra warm butter. Enjoy!
Theresa Lopez says
This recipe caused an argument in my home! My fiancé ate almost the ENTIRE LOAF in 2 days !! (I managed to get 2.5 small slices in) You know it’s great when you’re fighting over how much each person got to eat. So good!!
Shani W. says
LOL! Well luckily this recipe doubles easily - so one loaf for them and one for you! Thank you for this hilarious review, Theresa!
Natalie says
Alltime favorite banana bread recipe!!! It’s so easy to make. Very moist, and filled with a caramel-like flavor!
Shani W. says
I love to hear that! Thank you for commenting Natalie! 🙂